My name is Kiley Simpson, I’m a junior French and Philosophy major at Centenary College of Louisiana, and I just began my study abroad experience with l’Université Catholique de Lille. I plan to study here in Lille, France, for one year; during that time, I look forward to growing not only as a French major but also as a person.

 

 

I chose to do this experience for a few reasons:

1. My French will improve drastically.
2. I have the opportunity to take classes that may not be offered by Centenary.
3. I am able to meet thousands of strangers not from the USA (la catho has about 4000 exchange students this semester!)

Studying abroad can be a lot of things: it can be exciting and adventurous, a nice break from normal college life, a good career strategy, or even just a cool way to get better at speaking a foreign language. It can also be terrifying, and that's okay! Going somewhere across the world for an extended period of time, especially alone, is difficult both to think about and to do. So many things you think should be normal won't be - at the same time, you can find familiarity all around you.

I know that this experience will bring challenges and opportunities to improve myself, and I cannot wait for them to come. The point of college is to explore who you can be in the context of a greater world, so when you have the opportunity to travel, why not take it? I’m grateful that Centenary has placed such a heavy emphasis on international experiences because it has led to students like me traveling to countries they never dreamed of visiting.

Still, this will probably be the hardest thing I've ever done. Already, I have faced struggles I never planned to face. In the first few days, I had to face my fear of having negative attention called to me. As an introvert, it’s difficult and sometimes terrifying to draw positive attention to myself, so when I found myself lost or overwhelmed those first days, I was petrified. Yet I realized within the third day that I was no longer afraid of asking for what I needed - even if it meant walking up to some random person in a store or on the street to figure things out. I had conquered my first hurdle, and it will be the biggest key to making sure my stay here is successful.

My number one fear now is doing well in my classes. I have already attended one class, a slightly upper-level literature class, and have eight more classes to attend before I can know if all of them are a good fit for me. The best piece of advice was given to the exchange students attending the orientation for the Faculté des Lettres et Sciences Humaines: “Don’t be upset if your grades aren’t where you want them to be at first. Everyone starts out struggling, yet almost everyone makes the same GPA here that they would at home.”

If you’re considering a study abroad experience, here are a few things to keep in mind:

1.  In every situation, no matter how hard, someone will be there to help if you just ask.
2. Traveling alone is not easy, and no one has a great time all the time.
3. You will probably need to buy your own toilet paper.
4. Find other exchange students, some that speak your language and some you can only communicate with in a second language, and share your struggles and confusion with each other.
5. Find students from your host university to help you, either with your residence, food, travel, or classes.
6. Communicate with other people from Centenary that you know studied at your same host university - they have a lot of wisdom that can save you from many stresses!
7. Enjoy the experience as often as you can. Every day will bring new lessons, some tougher than others, but all of them go into the piggy bank of a better you. And if there's one thing I can ask for out of this entire experience, it's that: a better me.

I hope to speak to you again soon.
Bonne journée!
Kiley